Biometric template translation

ABSTRACT

A system translates a first biometric template of a first type to enable comparison with a second biometric template of a second type. In one example, a canonical template structure to which the first and second biometric templates adhere may be identified and used to compare corresponding portions of the first and second biometric templates. In another example, types and associated formats of the first and second biometric templates may be identified to enable both to be translated to a general format that can then be compared. In still other examples, an identification system may use the first biometric template to determine an identity associated with first biometric data to either retrieve second stored biometric data associated with the identity of a same type as the second biometric template or verify that an account in an external system having a record storing the second biometric template is associated with the identity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a nonprovisional patent application of and claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/879,746, filedJul. 29, 2019 and titled “Biometric Template Translation,” thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD

The described embodiments relate generally to biometric identification.More particularly, the present embodiments relate to translation betweenbiometric templates.

BACKGROUND

Use of biometrics (such as one or more fingerprints, blood vessel scans,palm-vein scans, voiceprints, facial images, retina images, iris images,deoxyribonucleic acid sequences, heart rhythms, gaits, and so on) toestablish a person's identity is increasingly common. Biometrics may beused to unlock electronic devices, retrieve sensitive information, entersecure areas (such as airport terminals, event venues, and so on), rentor purchase goods and/or services, and so on. A variety of differenttechnologies may be used in a variety of different implementations toestablish a person's identity using biometrics.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to biometric template translation thatenables comparison of different types of biometric templates. A firstbiometric template of a first type is translated in order to enable thetranslated biometric template to be compared to a second biometrictemplate of a second type. In one example, a canonical templatestructure to which the first and second biometric templates adhere maybe identified and used to compare corresponding portions of the firstand second biometric templates. In another example, types and associatedformats of the first and second biometric templates may be identified toenable both to be translated to a general format that can then becompared. In still other examples, an identification system may use thefirst biometric template to determine an identity associated with firstbiometric data and retrieve second biometric data of a same type as thesecond biometric template. In still other examples, an identificationsystem may use the first biometric template to determine an identityassociated with first biometric data and verify that an account in anexternal system having a record storing the second biometric template isalso associated with the identity, thus allowing translation between thefirst and second biometric templates through mutual association with thesame identity. In this way, the biometric template translation mayenable compatibility between different biometric systems. This mayprevent duplication of systems and/or components, enable functions notpreviously performable, improve hardware and/or software performance ofsystems and/or components, and/or reduce consumption of hardware and/orsoftware resources.

In various embodiments, a system for biometric template translationincludes at least one non-transitory storage medium that storesinstructions and at least one processing unit. The at least oneprocessing unit executes the instructions to access a first biometrictemplate of a first type and a second biometric template of a secondtype, identify a canonical template structure to which the firstbiometric template and the second biometric template adhere, and comparethe first biometric template and the second biometric template using thecanonical template structure.

In some examples, the at least one processing unit compares the firstbiometric template and the second biometric template by using thecanonical template structure to identify corresponding portions of thefirst biometric template and the second biometric template and comparingthe corresponding portions. In various implementations of such examples,the at least one processing unit determines that the first biometrictemplate and the second biometric template are from a same person whenthe corresponding portions match. In some implementations of suchexamples, the at least one processing unit determines that the firstbiometric template and the second biometric template are from differentpeople when the corresponding portions are dissimilar.

In various examples, the at least one processing unit accesses the firstbiometric template from a first record in a first system, accesses thesecond biometric template from a second record in a second system, anddetermines whether the first record and the second record are for a sameperson by comparing the first biometric template and the secondbiometric template. In some examples, the first biometric template andthe second biometric template are both digital representations of atleast one of fingerprints, blood vessel scans, palm-vein scans,voiceprints, facial images, retina images, iris images, deoxyribonucleicacid sequences, heart rhythms, or gaits. In a number of examples, thecanonical template structure details standard features of biometrictemplates that adhere to the canonical template structure.

In some embodiments, a system for biometric template translationincludes at least one non-transitory storage medium that storesinstructions and at least one processing unit. The at least oneprocessing unit executes the instructions to access a first biometrictemplate, identify a first type of the first biometric template,determine a first format associated with the first type, use the firstformat to translate the first biometric template to a general formatversion of the first biometric template, and compare the general formatversion of the first biometric template with a second biometrictemplate.

In various examples, the at least one processing unit compares thegeneral format version of the first biometric template with a secondbiometric template by identifying a second type of the second biometrictemplate, determining a second format associated with the second type,using the second format to translate the second biometric template to ageneral format version of the second biometric template, and comparingthe general format version of the first biometric template with thegeneral format version of the second biometric template.

In some examples, the at least one processing unit accesses the firstbiometric template via a first external system and the second biometrictemplate via a second external system. In various implementations ofsuch examples, the first biometric template is associated with a firstrecord stored by the first external system and the second biometrictemplate is associated with a second record stored by the secondexternal system. In some implementations of such examples, the at leastone processing unit receives the first biometric template from the firstexternal system.

In various examples, the at least one processing unit identifies thefirst type by analyzing the first biometric template. In some examples,the at least one processing unit identifies the first type using a typeindicator associated with the first biometric template.

In a number of embodiments, a system for biometric template translationincludes at least one non-transitory storage medium that storesinstructions and at least one processing unit. The at least oneprocessing unit executes the instructions to determine an identity of aperson in an identification system using a first biometric template andfirst stored biometric data for the person, determine a type associatedwith a second biometric template, access second stored biometric datathat is associated with the identity in the identification system andcorresponds to the type, and compare the second biometric template tothe second stored biometric data.

In various examples, the at least one processing unit associates atleast one of the first biometric template or the second biometrictemplate with a third biometric template stored in a record in anexternal system when the identity is associated with an account in theexternal system that corresponds to the record. In some implementationsof such examples, the at least one processing unit stores the thirdbiometric template in association with the identity upon associating theat least one of the first biometric template or the second biometrictemplate with the third biometric template.

In a number of examples, the identification system stores identityinformation for the person and controls access to the identityinformation using the first stored biometric data. In some examples, theidentification system stores multiple sets of biometric data for theperson that are each associated with different template types. Invarious examples, the first biometric template and the second biometrictemplate are of different types.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals designate like structural elements.

FIG. 1 depicts a first example system for biometric templatetranslation.

FIG. 2 depicts an example of generating a biometric template from abiometric.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a first example method for biometrictemplate translation. This method may be performed by the systems ofFIG. 1 or 5 .

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a second example method forbiometric template translation. This method may be performed by thesystems of FIG. 1 or 5 .

FIG. 5 depicts a second example system for biometric templatetranslation.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a third example method for biometrictemplate translation. This method may be performed by the systems ofFIG. 1 or 5 .

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a fourth example method forbiometric template translation. This method may be performed by thesystems of FIG. 1 or 5 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to representative embodimentsillustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood thatthe following descriptions are not intended to limit the embodiments toone preferred embodiment. To the contrary, it is intended to coveralternatives, modifications, and equivalents as can be included withinthe spirit and scope of the described embodiments as defined by theappended claims.

The description that follows includes sample systems, methods,apparatuses, and computer program products that embody various elementsof the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that thedescribed disclosure may be practiced in a variety of forms in additionto those described herein.

As part of biometric identification, biometric templates may begenerated and provided to a matching engine that compares the biometrictemplates to stored biometric data. A biometric template may begenerated by digitizing an obtained biometric (e.g., a biometric imageor the like) and formatting the resulting digital data according to aparticular format (e.g., a type of the biometric template) used by thematching engine. “Formatting,” as used herein, may mean cropping,skewing, hashing, compressing, mathematically expressing features and/orrelationships among features, or otherwise manipulating part or all of adata set derived from the biometric, such as a biometric image. Thestored biometric data may also be a biometric template formattedaccording to a particular format (e.g., type); the stored biometricdata's type may or may not match that of the generated biometrictemplate. This procedure may be performed for a variety of differentkinds of biometrics. This may allow the matching engine to compare thebiometric templates to the stored biometric data as long as both areconfigured according to a particular type (e.g., formatted in aparticular way) expected by the matching engine.

Different matching engines (such as those provided by Innovatrics™,Chui™, Rank One Computing™, BioMoRF Systems Limited™, FotoNation™, andso on) may use different types of biometric templates (e.g., biometrictemplates that are formatted in different ways). Even for the samebiometric (such as one or more fingerprints, blood vessel scans,palm-vein scans, voiceprints, facial images, retina images, iris images,deoxyribonucleic acid sequences, heart rhythms, gaits, and so on),images and/or other data may be cropped in different ways, featuresand/or relationships among features may be expressed differentlymathematically, the same data may be represented in different portions,data may be hashed and/or compressed differently, and so on. As aresult, biometric templates generated for one matching engine may not becapable of being compared to biometric data previously generated foranother matching engine. This may cause different biometric systems tobe incompatible, necessitating duplicate systems and/or componentsand/or excess processing and/or hardware and/or software resources.

The following disclosure relates to biometric template translation thatenables comparison of different types of biometric templates. A firstbiometric template of a first type is translated in order to enable thetranslated biometric template to be compared to a second biometrictemplate of a second type. In one example, a canonical templatestructure to which the first and second biometric templates adhere maybe identified and used to compare corresponding portions of the firstand second biometric templates. In another example, types and associatedformats of the first and second biometric templates may be identified toenable both to be translated to a general format that can then becompared. In still other examples, an identification system may use thefirst biometric template to determine an identity associated with firstbiometric data and retrieve second biometric data of a same type as thesecond biometric template. In still other examples, an identificationsystem may use the first biometric template to determine an identityassociated with first biometric data and verify that an account in anexternal system having a record storing the second biometric template isalso associated with the identity, thus allowing translation between thefirst and second biometric templates through mutual association with thesame identity. In this way, the biometric template translation mayenable compatibility between different biometric systems. This mayprevent duplication of systems and/or components, enable functions notpreviously performable, improve hardware and/or software performance ofsystems and/or components, and/or reduce consumption of hardware and/orsoftware resources.

These and other embodiments are discussed below with reference to FIGS.1-7 . However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that thedetailed description given herein with respect to these Figures is forexplanatory purposes only and should not be construed as limiting.

FIG. 1 depicts a first example system 100 for biometric templatetranslation. The system includes a biometric template translator 101.The biometric template translator 101 may translate between biometrictemplate of a first type and biometric template of a second type.

For example, the biometric template of the first type may be stored in afirst data store 102 and the biometric template of the second type maybe stored in a second data store 103. However, it is understood thatthis is an example. In various implementations, the biometric templateof the first type and the biometric template of the second type may bestored in the same data store.

The biometric template of the first type and the biometric template ofthe second type may be generated for one or more different matchingengines (such as Innovatrics™, Chui™ Rank One Computing™, BioMoRFSystems Limited™, FotoNation™, and so on) using one or more biometrics(such as one or more fingerprints, blood vessel scans, palm-vein scans,voiceprints, facial images, retina images, iris images, deoxyribonucleicacid sequences, heart rhythms, gaits, and so on). Both of the biometrictemplate of the first type and the biometric template of the second typemay include hashes and/or other digital representations of thebiometrics. As the biometric template of the first type and thebiometric template of the second type may be generated as differenttypes, the biometric template of the first type and the biometrictemplate of the second type may be generated and/or formatteddifferently. As the biometric template of the first type and thebiometric template of the second type are of different types, they maynot be comparable to each other until translated by the biometrictemplate translator 101.

For example, the biometric template translator 101 may identify acanonical template structure to which both the first type and the secondtype adhere. For example, a canonical template structure may be aspecification of how different types of templates all similarly formatdifferent portions of a biometric template. The canonical templatestructure may not specify how all portions of a biometric template areformatted, so different types of biometric templates may still bepossible if the different types of biometric templates format thespecified portions according to the canonical template structure butformat other portions differently. Biometric templates may adhere to thecanonical template structure if the biometric templates are formattedaccording to all of the specifications that are included in thecanonical template structure. The biometric template translator 101 mayuse the canonical template structure to compare corresponding portionsof the biometric template of the first type and the biometric templateof the second type.

By way of another example, the biometric template translator 101 mayidentify the respective types of the biometric template of the firsttype and the biometric template of the second type. The biometrictemplate translator 101 may determine a format that is associated witheach of those types, use the determined formats to translate thebiometric template of the first type and/or the biometric template ofthe second type to a general format version, and compare the generalformat versions. For example, each type of biometric template may beformatted in a particular way. By identifying the type of a biometrictemplate, the biometric template translator 101 may able to determinehow the data of that biometric template is formatted, convert thatformatted data into a general format version, and then compare thatgeneral format version to other general format versions of biometrictemplates.

In yet another example, the biometric template translator 101 may usethe biometric template of the first type to determine an identityassociated with first biometric data in an identification system. Forexample, the identification system may identity people by matchingreceived biometric templates to stored biometric data that is associatedwith identities. Further, the identification system may store biometricdata of different types. Because the identification system stores thebiometric data of the different types associated with the same identity,there is a certainty that the biometric data of the different types areall for the same person. When the identification system determines anidentity by matching a biometric template to stored biometric data ofone type, the identification system may be able to retrieve storedbiometric data of other types that area also associated with the sameidentity. This may enable the identification system to provide access tostored biometric data of a particular desired type that is alsoassociated with a identity after the identification system hasdetermined the identity. As such, the biometric template translator 101may translate between the biometric template of the first type and thebiometric template of the second type by using the biometric template ofthe first type to determine an identity, accessing stored biometric dataof the second type stored by the identification system associated withthe identity, and comparing that to the biometric template of the secondtype. Alternatively and/or additionally, the biometric templatetranslator 101 may verify that an account in an external system having arecord storing the biometric template of the second type is associatedwith the determined identity, thus allowing translation between thefirst and second biometric templates through mutual association with thesame identity.

FIG. 2 depicts an example 200 of generating a biometric template 210Dfrom a biometric data 210A. In this example, a biometric data 210A maybe captured. A set of features 210B may be identified from the biometricdata 210A. Relationships 210C between the set of features 210B may beidentified, such as a map of relative differences and displacementsbetween the set of features 210B. A biometric template 210D may then begenerated by mathematically representing the relationships 210C betweenthe set of features 210B.

Biometric templates 210D of different types may be generated frombiometrics 210A. For example, different biometric templates 210D may begenerated by differently cropping an image of the biometric data 210Aand/or otherwise extracting data from different portions thereof,identifying different sets of features 210B, differently mappingrelationships 210C between the set of features 210B, differentlymathematically representing the relationships 210C between the set offeatures 210B, differently formatting the mathematical representationsof the relationships 210C between the set of features 210B, differentlyhashing and/or compressing data, and so on. Thus, different types ofbiometric templates 210D may be generated from the same biometric data210A. The techniques of the present disclosure may be used to translatebetween these different types of biometric templates 210D to enablecomparison despite the different types (e.g., different formatting).

In FIG. 2 , the biometric data 210A is illustrated as a fingerprint andthe relationships 210C between the set of features 210B are relativedifferences and displacements of data points of the fingerprint.However, it is understood that this is an example. Different biometrics,such as fingerprints, faces, irises, and so on may all have features(such as corners of a mouth or shapes of eyes) that may be identifiedfrom respective biometric data and mapped to compare relativedifferences and displacements. As such, relationships 210C between setsof features 210B for a variety of different biometric data 210A may bemathematically represented in order to generate biometric templates 210Dof various different types or formats without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure. The illustration of the biometric data 210Aas a fingerprint image in FIG. 2 is not intended to be limiting.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a first example method 300 forbiometric template translation. This method 300 may be performed by thesystem 100 of FIG. 1 (and/or the system 500 of FIG. 5 discussed below).

At operation 310, an electronic device (such as the biometric templatetranslator 101 of FIG. 1 and/or the identification system device 501 ofFIG. 5 discussed below) may access a first biometric template. Atoperation 320, the electronic device may access a second biometrictemplate. The first and second biometric templates may be of differenttypes. In other words, the first and second biometric templates may beformatted differently for different matching engines despite possiblybeing generated from the same biometric. For example, images and/orother data may be cropped in different ways, features and/orrelationships among features may be expressed differentlymathematically, the same data may be represented in different portions,data may be hashed and/or compressed differently, and so on.

At operation 330, the electronic device may identify a canonicaltemplate structure. The canonical template structure may be one to whichthe first and second biometric templates both adhere. A canonicaltemplate structure may be a specification of how different types oftemplates all similarly format different portions of a biometrictemplate. The canonical template structure may not specify how allportions of a biometric template are formatted, so different types ofbiometric templates may correspond to a single canonical templatestructure. For example, the different types of biometric templates mayformat specified portions according to the canonical template structurebut format other portions differently. Put another way, biometrictemplates may adhere to the canonical template structure if thebiometric templates are formatted according to all of the specificationsthat are included in the canonical template structure.

For example, the canonical template structure may be a standardaccording to which different biometric templates adhere. The standardmay detail standard features of biometric templates that adhere to thecanonical template structure. As such, all biometric templates thatadhere to the canonical template structure may have particularcorresponding portions. The standard may be a lightweight standard suchthat a great amount of variety is possible between different formatsthat all adhere to the standard.

Although the canonical template structure may be a standard according towhich different templates adhere, that does not mean that all standardsfor biometric templates are canonical template structures. A standardfor a biometric template may be a canonical template structure ifidentification of the fact that two biometric templates adhere to thestandard allow the two biometrics to be compared using the standard. Astandard for a biometric template may not be a canonical templatestructure if identification of the fact that two biometric templatesadhere to the standard do not allow the two biometrics to be comparedusing the standard. Some standards may include more flexibility thanallows for use of the standards for comparing biometric templates ofdifferent types. Such standards may not specify sufficient canonicalstructure to be a canonical template structures and be usable in thisway.

For example, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standardfor biometrics may require biometric templates to be formatted as packetdata including a header packet indicating that the biometric templatesare compliant with the ANSI standard and at least one biometric datapacket that may optionally relate to a fingerprint, and iris, and so on.However, identification that a biometric template for a fingerprint anda biometric template for an iris are both compliant with the ANSIstandard may not enable comparison of the biometric template for thefingerprint and the biometric template for an iris. The ANSI standardmay also not require adherence to specifications for how details ofbiometrics are represented and formatted in the biometric data packeteven when corresponding the same biometric.

At operation 340, the electronic device may compare the first biometrictemplate to the second biometric template using the canonical templatestructure. For example, the canonical template structure may be used toidentify corresponding portions of the first and second biometrictemplates. The corresponding portions may then be compared.

If there is a match or substantial match, the electronic device maydetermine that the first and second biometric templates are from thesame person. The electronic device may determine that the first andsecond biometric templates are from different people (and/or adetermination that the first and second biometric templates are from thesame person is not possible) when the corresponding portions aredissimilar.

By way of illustration, the example method 300 may be used to comparedifferent biometric templates stored in different records in differentsystems, such as different medical records systems. For example, theelectronic device may compare a first biometric template of a firsttype, such as one stored in and/or associated with a first medicalrecord in a first medical system, with a second biometric template of asecond type, such as one stored in a second medical record in a secondmedical system. As the first biometric template is of the first type andthe second biometric template is of the second type, the electronicdevice may identify a canonical template structure to which the firstand second biometric templates both adhere and use the canonicaltemplate structure to compare the first and second biometric templates.Based on the comparison, the electronic device may determine whether ornot the records are for the same person by comparing the first andsecond biometric templates. If the electronic device determines therecords are for the same person, the electronic device may link therecords, copy information from one record to the other, and so on.Various configurations are possible and contemplated without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure.

In some situations, comparison of the first biometric template to thesecond biometric template using the canonical template structure may notbe 100% sufficient for matching. In some cases, additional steps and/ortranslations may be performed before matching is possible. For example,the first biometric template may be generated at a lower resolution thanthe second biometric template, which may affect the relationships thatare determined among features and how these are represented. In such anexample, comparison of the first biometric template to the secondbiometric template using the canonical template structure may be capableof comparing corresponding portions, but additional translation stepsmay be performed to account for the differences in how the relationshipswere determined among features and how these were represented beforematching can be adequately certain.

In various examples, this example method 300 may be implemented as agroup of interrelated software modules or components that performvarious functions discussed herein. These software modules or componentsmay be executed within a cloud network and/or by one or more computingdevices, such as the biometric template translator 101 of FIG. 1 (and/orthe identification system device 501 of FIG. 5 discussed below).

Although the example method 300 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the example method 300 is illustrated and described asaccessing both the first biometric template and the second biometrictemplate. However, it is understood that this is an example. In someimplementations, the electronic device may generate one or more of thefirst biometric template or the second biometric template from abiometric instead of accessing such from another source. Variousconfigurations are possible and contemplated without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a second example method 400 forbiometric template translation. This method 400 may be performed by thesystem 100 of FIG. 1 (and/or the system 500 of FIG. 5 discussed below).

At operation 410, an electronic device (such as the biometric templatetranslator 101 of FIG. 1 and/or the identification system device 501 ofFIG. 5 discussed below) may access a first biometric template. Atoperation 420, the electronic device may identify a type associated withthe first biometric template. For example, the first biometric templatemay be stored in a data structure that identifies the type and/or amatching engine to use with the first biometric template from which thetype may be identified. By way of another example, the electronic devicemay analyze the format of the first biometric template to identify thetype. In yet another example, a type indicator may be associated withthe first biometric template that identifies the type. Variousconfigurations are possible and contemplated without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

At operation 430, the electronic device may determine the format of thetype. In other words, the electronic device may determine how allbiometric templates of that type are formatted. For example, differenttypes of biometric templates may be formatted differently. Theelectronic device may access information for different types thatspecify the formats associated with the respective type. For example,the format may involve how images and/or other data are cropped,features and/or relationships among features are expressedmathematically, what data is represented in what portions, how data maybe hashed and/or compressed, and so on.

At operation 440, the electronic device may translate the firstbiometric template to a general format using the determined format. Thegeneral format may be a standard for biometric templates. The generalformat may be a “universal” format to which different formattedbiometric templates may be converted in order to compare them.

At operation 450, the electronic device may access a second biometrictemplate. The second biometric template may be of a different type thanthe first biometric template. At operation 460, the electronic devicemay identify the type associated with the second biometric template. Atoperation 470, the electronic device may determine a format of the typeassociated with the second biometric template. At operation 480, theelectronic device may translate the second biometric template to thegeneral format using the determined format.

At operation 490, the electronic device may compare the general formatversions of the first and second biometric templates. The electronicdevice may compare the general format versions of the first and secondbiometric templates to determine whether or not they represent the samebiometric and/or are from the same person.

By way of illustration, the electronic device may access a firstbiometric template of a first type via a first external system and asecond biometric template of a second type via a second external system,such as by receiving the first biometric template from the firstexternal system and/or the second biometric template from the secondexternal system. The first biometric template may be associated with afirst record stored by the first external system and the secondbiometric template may be associated with a second record stored by thesecond external system. The electronic device may determine howbiometric templates of the first type are formatted, use thatdetermination of how biometric templates of the first type are formattedto translate the first biometric template to a general format, determinehow biometric templates of the second type are formatted, use thatdetermination of how biometric templates of the second type areformatted to translate the second biometric template to a generalformat, and compare the general format versions of the first and secondbiometric templates.

In various examples, this example method 400 may be implemented as agroup of interrelated software modules or components that performvarious functions discussed herein. These software modules or componentsmay be executed within a cloud network and/or by one or more computingdevices, such as the biometric template translator 101 of FIG. 1 (and/orthe identification system device 501 of FIG. 5 discussed below).

Although the example method 400 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the example method 400 illustrates and describes convertingboth the first and second biometric templates to the general format.However, it is understood that this is an example. In some examples, oneor more of the first biometric template and/or the second biometrictemplate may already be in the general format and/or a format that iscomparable to the general format (such as one that adheres to acanonical biometric structure like discussed above with respect to FIG.3 ). In such an example, translation of that biometric template to thegeneral format may be omitted. Various configurations are possible andcontemplated without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a second example system 500 for biometric templatetranslation. The system includes one or more identification systemdevices 501 that are operable to communicate with one or more firstsystems 502 and/or second systems 503 via one or more networks 504.

The identification system device 501 may be operable to communicate withthe first system 502 and/or the second system 503 to translate biometrictemplates of different types and/or perform other functions. Forexample, the identification system device 501 may be operable to performidentifications using biometric templates received from the first system502 and/or the second system 503 via the network 504. By way of anotherexample, the identification system device 501 may be operable to comparebiometric data stored by the first system 502 and the second system 503,which may involve translating between different types of biometrictemplates used to generate the respective biometric data. In yet anotherexample, the identification system device 501 may identify a personusing a biometric template received from the first system 502 or thesecond system 503 and translate the biometric template in one or morevarious ways to compare that to and/or otherwise evaluate biometric datastored by the other of the first system 502 and/or the second system503.

The identification system device 501 may translate between biometrictemplates associated with the first system 502 and/or the second system503. The identification system device 501 may perform one or moremethods for translating biometric templates, such as the method 300 ofFIG. 3 , the method 400 of FIG. 4 , the method 600 of FIG. 6 detailedbelow, the method 700 of FIG. 7 detailed below, and so on.

In one example, identification system device 501 may identify acanonical template structure to which the first and second biometrictemplates adhere and compare corresponding portions of the first andsecond biometric templates. In another example, identification systemdevice 501 may identify types and associated formats of the first andsecond biometric templates in order to translate one or more to ageneral format that can then be compared. In still other examples, theidentification system device 501 may use the first biometric template todetermine an identity associated with first biometric data and retrievesecond biometric data of a same type as the second biometric template(such as where the first and second biometric data are both stored inassociation with the identity). In still other examples, theidentification system device 501 may use the first biometric template todetermine an identity associated with first biometric data and verifythat an account in one or more of the first system 502 and/or the secondsystem 503 having a record storing the second biometric template is alsoassociated with the identity, thus allowing translation between thefirst and second biometric templates through mutual association with thesame identity.

The identification system device 501 may be any kind of electronicdevice and/or cloud and/or other computing arrangement and may includeone more processing units 521 and/or other processors or controllers,non-transitory storage media 522, communication units 523, and/or othercomponents. The processing unit 521 may execute one or more sets ofinstructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium 522 to performvarious functions, such as storing biometric data for people andassociated identity information (such as one or more names, addresses,telephone numbers, financial data, financial account numbers, verifiedages, insurance identifiers, payment account identifiers, and so on),receiving one or more digital representations of biometrics, matchingone or more received digital representations of biometrics to storedbiometric data, retrieving identity information associated with storedbiometric data matching one or more received digital representations ofbiometrics, providing retrieved identity information, communicating withthe first system 502 and/or the second system 503 via the network 504using the communication unit 523, translating between one or more typesof biometric templates, and so on.

Likewise, the first system 502 and/or the second system 503 may be anykind of electronic devices. Examples of such devices include, but arenot limited to, one or more desktop computing devices, laptop computingdevices, mobile computing devices, wearable devices, tablet computingdevices, mobile telephones, smart phones, printers, displays, kiosks,vehicles, kitchen appliances, entertainment system devices, digitalmedia players, and so on. The devices may include one or more processingunits and/or other processors and/or controllers, one or morenon-transitory storage media (which may take the form of, but is notlimited to, a magnetic storage medium; optical storage medium;magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory; random access memory;erasable programmable memory; flash memory; and so on), one or moreinput and/or output devices (such as one or more keyboards, computermice, touch screens, touch pads, track pads, microphones, speakers,displays, buttons, dials, switches, printers, and so on), one or morecommunication units, one or more biometric reader devices (such as afingerprint scanner, a blood vessel scanner, a palm-vein scanner, anoptical fingerprint scanner, a phosphorescent fingerprint scanner, astill image and/or video camera, a 2D and/or 3D image sensor, acapacitive sensor, a saliva sensor, a deoxyribonucleic acid sensor, aheart rhythm monitor, a microphone, and so on), and/or one or more othercomponents. The processing unit may execute one or more sets ofinstructions stored in the non-transitory storage media to performvarious functions, such as using the biometric reader device to obtainone or more digital representations of one or more biometrics (such asone or more hashes and/or other digital representations of one or morefingerprints, blood vessel scans, palm-vein scans, voiceprints, facialimages, retina images, iris images, deoxyribonucleic acid sequences,heart rhythms, gaits, and so on) for a person, communicating with theidentification system device 501 via the network 504 using thecommunication unit 523, providing one or more obtained digitalrepresentations of biometrics, and so on.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a third example method 600 forbiometric template translation. This method 600 may be performed by thesystems 100, 500 of FIG. 1 or 5 .

At operation 610, an electronic device (such as the biometric templatetranslator 101 of FIG. 1 and/or the identification system device 501 ofFIG. 5 ) may use a first biometric template to determine an account in afirst system associated with an identity in an identification system.For example, the electronic device may receive the first biometrictemplate as part of a person interacting with the first system, such aswhere the person provides a biometric to the first system in order toidentify himself for the purpose of checking in for a medicalappointment. The first system may generate or obtain the first biometrictemplate, transmit the first biometric template to the identificationsystem, receive information regarding an identity associated with thefirst biometric template in the identification system, and determine anaccount in the first system associated with the identity.

At operation 620, the electronic device may determine an account in asecond system associated with the identity in the identification system.For example, the identification system may store information regardingvarious accounts that are associated with the identity, such as theaccount in the first system and the second system. Upon determining theidentity using the first biometric template, the identification systemmay determine that the identity is associated with the accounts in boththe first and the second systems.

The second system may have a second biometric template associated withthe account. The second biometric template may be of a different type orformat than the first biometric template. As the electronic device hasdetermined that the identity is associated with the account in the firstsystem, the first biometric template, and the account in the secondsystem, the electronic device may determine that this is sufficient tomutually associate the first and second biometric templates with thesame identity. As such, the mutual association of the first and secondbiometric templates with the identity can be effectively used throughthe identity system to translate between the first and second biometrictemplates. Thus, at operation 630, the electronic device may associatethe second biometric template with the first biometric template.Association may involve copying the second biometric template to theidentification system and/or the first system, treating the first andsecond biometric templates as equivalent for determining the identity(and thus “translated”), and so on.

In various examples, this example method 600 may be implemented as agroup of interrelated software modules or components that performvarious functions discussed herein. These software modules or componentsmay be executed within a cloud network and/or by one or more computingdevices, such as the biometric template translator 101 of FIG. 1 and/orthe identification system device 501 of FIG. 5 .

Although the example method 600 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the example method 600 is illustrated and described asusing the first biometric template to identify an account in the firstsystem associated with the identity. However, in various examples, afirst biometric template may be used to determine the identity for thefirst system without involving any kind of account in the first system.In such an example, the first biometric template may still be associatedwith a second biometric template from a second system identified asassociated with the identity. Various configurations are possible andcontemplated without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a fourth example method 700 forbiometric template translation. This method 700 may be performed by thesystems 100, 500 of FIG. 1 or 5 .

At operation 710, an electronic device (such as the biometric templatetranslator 101 of FIG. 1 and/or the identification system device 501 ofFIG. 5 ) may use a first biometric template to determine an associatedidentity in an identification system using first stored biometric data.For example, the identification system may associate the first storedbiometric data with the identity and may match the first biometrictemplate to the first stored biometric data to determine the identityand/or control access to information associated with the identity.

At operation 720, the electronic device may determine a type of a secondbiometric template to be compared. The second biometric template may befor comparing to the first stored biometric data and/or the firstbiometric template. The first biometric template and/or the firstbiometric data may be of a different type than the second biometrictemplate.

At operation 730, the electronic device may access second storedbiometric data in the identification system associated with the identityaccording to the determined type. The identification system may storebiometric data of a number of different types (e.g., different templatetypes) associated with the identity. As such, upon determining theidentity using the first biometric template and determining a type ofbiometric data to use for comparison with a second biometric template,the identification system can serve as a translator by retrieving storedsecond biometric data of a corresponding type to the second biometrictemplate.

At operation 740, the electronic device can compare the second biometrictemplate with the first biometric template and/or the first storedbiometric data by comparing the second stored biometric data with thesecond biometric template. As the identity is thus associated in theidentification system with the first biometric template, the firststored biometric data, and the second stored biometric data, the secondstored biometric data can serve as a stand in for the first biometricdata and/or the first biometric template.

In various examples, this example method 700 may be implemented as agroup of interrelated software modules or components that performvarious functions discussed herein. These software modules or componentsmay be executed within a cloud network and/or by one or more computingdevices, such as the biometric template translator 101 of FIG. 1 and/orthe identification system device 501 of FIG. 5 .

Although the example method 700 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the example methods 600 and 700 are illustrated anddescribed as separate processes. However, in some examples, one or moreoperations may be combined from the example methods 600 and 700 withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, in some implementations, the example method 700 may includethe further operations of associating the first biometric templateand/or the second biometric template with a third biometric templatestored in a record in an external system when the identity is associatedwith an account in the external system that corresponds to the record.In such an example, the electronic device may store the third biometrictemplate in association with the identity upon associating the firstbiometric template and/or the second biometric template with the thirdbiometric template. Various configurations are possible and contemplatedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Although the above illustrates and describes a number of embodiments, itis understood that these are examples. In various implementations,various techniques of individual embodiments may be combined withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

In various implementations, a system for biometric template translationmay include at least one non-transitory storage medium that storesinstructions and at least one processing unit. The at least oneprocessing unit may execute the instructions to access a first biometrictemplate of a first type and a second biometric template of a secondtype, identify a canonical template structure to which the firstbiometric template and the second biometric template adhere, and comparethe first biometric template and the second biometric template using thecanonical template structure.

In some examples, the at least one processing unit may compare the firstbiometric template and the second biometric template by using thecanonical template structure to identify corresponding portions of thefirst biometric template and the second biometric template and comparingthe corresponding portions. In various such examples, the at least oneprocessing unit may determine that the first biometric template and thesecond biometric template are from a same person when the correspondingportions match. In some such examples, the at least one processing unitmay determine that the first biometric template and the second biometrictemplate are from different people when the corresponding portions aredissimilar.

In various examples, the at least one processing unit may access thefirst biometric template from a first record in a first system, accessthe second biometric template from a second record in a second system,and determine whether the first record and the second record are for asame person by comparing the first biometric template and the secondbiometric template. In some examples, the first biometric template andthe second biometric template may both be digital representations of atleast one of fingerprints, blood vessel scans, palm-vein scans,voiceprints, facial images, retina images, iris images, deoxyribonucleicacid sequences, heart rhythms, or gaits. In a number of examples, thecanonical template structure may detail standard features of biometrictemplates that adhere to the canonical template structure.

In some implementations, a system for biometric template translation mayinclude at least one non-transitory storage medium that storesinstructions and at least one processing unit. The at least oneprocessing unit may execute the instructions to access a first biometrictemplate, identify a first type of the first biometric template,determine a first format associated with the first type, use the firstformat to translate the first biometric template to a general formatversion of the first biometric template, and compare the general formatversion of the first biometric template with a second biometrictemplate.

In various examples, the at least one processing unit may compare thegeneral format version of the first biometric template with a secondbiometric template by identifying a second type of the second biometrictemplate, determining a second format associated with the second type,using the second format to translate the second biometric template to ageneral format version of the second biometric template, and comparingthe general format version of the first biometric template with thegeneral format version of the second biometric template.

In some examples, the at least one processing unit may access the firstbiometric template via a first external system and the second biometrictemplate via a second external system. In various such examples, thefirst biometric template may be associated with a first record stored bythe first external system and the second biometric template may beassociated with a second record stored by the second external system. Insome such examples, the at least one processing unit may receive thefirst biometric template from the first external system.

In various examples, the at least one processing unit may identify thefirst type by analyzing the first biometric template. In some examples,the at least one processing unit may identify the first type using atype indicator associated with the first biometric template.

In a number of implementations, a system for biometric templatetranslation may include at least one non-transitory storage medium thatstores instructions and at least one processing unit. The at least oneprocessing unit may execute the instructions to determine an identity ofa person in an identification system using a first biometric templateand first stored biometric data for the person, determine a typeassociated with a second biometric template, access second storedbiometric data that is associated with the identity in theidentification system and corresponds to the type, and compare thesecond biometric template to the second stored biometric data.

In various examples, the at least one processing unit may associate atleast one of the first biometric template or the second biometrictemplate with a third biometric template stored in a record in anexternal system when the identity is associated with an account in theexternal system that corresponds to the record. In some such examples,the at least one processing unit may store the third biometric templatein association with the identity upon associating the at least one ofthe first biometric template or the second biometric template with thethird biometric template.

In a number of examples, the identification system may store identityinformation for the person and control access to the identityinformation using the first stored biometric data. In some examples, theidentification system may store multiple sets of biometric data for theperson that are each associated with different template types. Invarious examples, the first biometric template and the second biometrictemplate may be of different types.

As described above and illustrated in the accompanying figures, thepresent disclosure relates to biometric template translation thatenables comparison of different types of biometric templates. A firstbiometric template of a first type is translated in order to enable thetranslated biometric template to be compared to a second biometrictemplate of a second type. In one example, a canonical templatestructure to which the first and second biometric templates adhere maybe identified and used to compare corresponding portions of the firstand second biometric templates. In another example, types and associatedformats of the first and second biometric templates may be identified toenable both to be translated to a general format that can then becompared. In still other examples, an identification system may use thefirst biometric template to determine an identity associated with firstbiometric data and retrieve second stored biometric data associated withthe identity of a same type as the second biometric template. In stillother examples, an identification system may use the first biometrictemplate to determine an identity associated with first biometric dataand verify that an account in an external system having a record storingthe second biometric template is also associated with the identity, thusallowing translation between the first and second biometric templatesthrough mutual association with the same identity. In this way, thebiometric template translation may enable compatibility betweendifferent biometric systems. This may prevent duplication of systemsand/or components, enable functions not previously performable, improvehardware and/or software performance of systems and/or components,and/or reduce consumption of hardware and/or software resources.

The present disclosure recognizes that biometric and/or other personaldata is owned by the person from whom such biometric and/or otherpersonal data is derived. This data can be used to the benefit of thosepeople. For example, biometric data may be used to conveniently andreliably identify and/or authenticate the identity of people, accesssecurely stored financial and/or other information associated with thebiometric data, and so on. This may allow people to avoid repeatedlyproviding physical identification and/or other information.

The present disclosure further recognizes that the entities who collect,analyze, store, and/or otherwise use such biometric and/or otherpersonal data should comply with well-established privacy policiesand/or privacy practices. Particularly, such entities should implementand consistently use privacy policies and practices that are generallyrecognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirementsfor maintaining security and privately maintaining biometric and/orother personal data, including the use of encryption and securitymethods that meets or exceeds industry or government standards. Forexample, biometric and/or other personal data should be collected forlegitimate and reasonable uses and not shared or sold outside of thoselegitimate uses. Further, such collection should occur only afterreceiving the informed consent. Additionally, such entities should takeany needed steps for safeguarding and securing access to such biometricand/or other personal data and ensuring that others with access to thebiometric and/or other personal data adhere to the same privacy policiesand practices. Further, such entities should certify their adherence towidely accepted privacy policies and practices by subjecting themselvesto appropriate third party evaluation.

Additionally, the present disclosure recognizes that people may blockthe use of, storage of, and/or access to biometric and/or other personaldata. Entities who typically collect, analyze, store, and/or otherwiseuse such biometric and/or other personal data should implement andconsistently prevent any collection, analysis, storage, and/or other useof any biometric and/or other personal data blocked by the person fromwhom such biometric and/or other personal data is derived.

In the present disclosure, the methods disclosed may be implemented assets of instructions or software readable by a device. Further, it isunderstood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methodsdisclosed are examples of sample approaches. In other embodiments, thespecific order or hierarchy of steps in the method can be rearrangedwhile remaining within the disclosed subject matter. The accompanyingmethod claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order,and are not necessarily meant to be limited to the specific order orhierarchy presented.

The described disclosure may be provided as a computer program product,or software, that may include a non-transitory machine-readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program acomputer system (or other electronic devices) to perform a processaccording to the present disclosure. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form (e.g.,software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). The non-transitory machine-readable medium may take the formof, but is not limited to, a magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppydiskette, video cassette, and so on); optical storage medium (e.g.,CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory (ROM); randomaccess memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM andEEPROM); flash memory; and so on.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the describedembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe specific details are not required in order to practice the describedembodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of the specificembodiments described herein are presented for purposes of illustrationand description. They are not targeted to be exhaustive or to limit theembodiments to the precise forms disclosed. It will be apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and variations arepossible in view of the above teachings.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for biometric template translation,comprising: at least one non-transitory storage medium that storesinstructions; and at least one processing unit that executes theinstructions to: access a first biometric template of a first type and asecond biometric template of a second type; identify a canonicaltemplate structure to which the first biometric template and the secondbiometric template adhere, the canonical template structure specifyinghow to similarly format at least some corresponding portions of thefirst biometric template and the second biometric template; and comparethe first biometric template and the second biometric template using thecanonical template structure.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the atleast one processing unit compares the first biometric template and thesecond biometric template by: using the canonical template structure toidentify corresponding portions of the first biometric template and thesecond biometric template; and comparing the corresponding portions. 3.The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one processing unitdetermines that the first biometric template and the second biometrictemplate are from a same person when the corresponding portions match.4. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one processing unitdetermines that the first biometric template and the second biometrictemplate are from different people when the corresponding portions aredissimilar.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least oneprocessing unit: accesses the first biometric template from a firstrecord in a first system; accesses the second biometric template from asecond record in a second system; and determines whether the firstrecord and the second record are for a same person by comparing thefirst biometric template and the second biometric template.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the first biometric template and the secondbiometric template are both digital representations of at least one offingerprints, blood vessel scans, palm-vein scans, voiceprints, facialimages, retina images, iris images, deoxyribonucleic acid sequences,heart rhythms, or gaits.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the canonicaltemplate structure details standard features of biometric templates thatadhere to the canonical template structure.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the at least one processing unit accesses: the first biometrictemplate via a first external system; and the second biometric templatevia a second external system.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein: thefirst biometric template is associated with a first record stored by thefirst external system; and the second biometric template is associatedwith a second record stored by the second external system.
 10. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the at least one processing unit receives thefirst biometric template from the first external system.
 11. The systemof claim 1, wherein the at least one processing unit identifies thefirst type by analyzing the first biometric template.
 12. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one processing unit identifies the firsttype using a type indicator associated with the first biometrictemplate.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the first biometrictemplate and the second biometric template correspond to differentmatching engines.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the canonicaltemplate structure specifies only part of how the first biometrictemplate is formatted.
 15. A method for biometric template translation,comprising: accessing a first biometric template of a first type and asecond biometric template of a second type; identifying a canonicaltemplate structure to which the first biometric template and the secondbiometric template adhere, the canonical template structure specifyinghow to similarly format at least some corresponding portions of thefirst biometric template and the second biometric template; andcomparing the first biometric template and the second biometric templateusing the canonical template structure.
 16. The method of claim 15,further comprising accessing stored identity information associated withthe second biometric template when the first biometric templatecorresponds to the second biometric template.
 17. The method of claim15, further comprising linking at least one first record associated withthe first biometric template with at least one second record associatedwith the second biometric template.
 18. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising copying information from at least one first record associatedwith the first biometric template to at least one second recordassociated with the second biometric template.
 19. The method of claim15, further comprising controlling access to stored identity informationassociated with the second biometric template.
 20. The method of claim15, wherein the comparing the first biometric template and the secondbiometric template using the canonical template structure comprises:using the canonical template structure to identify correspondingportions of the first biometric template and the second biometrictemplate; and comparing the corresponding portions.